Since any one who knows anything about pastry knows that pate a choux dough is a very egg rich dough that relies heavily on those eggs to bake up into hollow shells of pastry art that can then be filled with luscious creamy pastry cream custard.

I’ve tried several recipes for vegan eclairs over the last year and not one has lived up to my standard; which is essentially that my vegan recipes must be at the very least an 85% match to the original. Meaning my non vegan friends who taste it have to be “wow-ed” when they taste it!

Until now not one recipe was making the grade.

Behold the vegan eclair.

*UPDATE on the Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg- I have been getting several people lately telling me that this recipe has not been working out for them.My First suspicion is that soon after I formulated this recipe (and several others using Vegan Egg) Follow Your Heart changed the formula by replacing the algal flour with soy milk powder!I have not been able to get my hands on the new updated formula with the soy, but once I do I will have to go back and test to make sure that is not the problem! I did have great success with the original formula so I will say that if you havr the new SOY formula, you may want to hold off on this recipe until I can confirm that is or is not, the problem!

By using the base knowledge I taught in my online course in Vegan Baking Mastery where the focus is all around egg replacers in vegan baking; I was able to break down the original pate a choux recipe and then replace the eggs with the best vegan alternatives and a few other tricks to make this eclair a 95% match!

Yes, I won’t even give myself 100% here because there are slight differences in the final result compared to the original pate a choux recipe.

But I will take that and run with it because let me tell you these eclairs are on point!

By using the Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg replacer and a addition of aquafaba to mimic the eggs, I was able to recreate the puffed up hollow shell that doesn’t collapse and stays hollow!

I know right away many of you will ask me what you can use instead of the vegan egg by Follow Your Heart and unfortunately this was the winning combination to make it work out correctly.

This is the way the recipe works perfectly, so if you can’t get it or don’t want to buy it I would sadly say to go ahead and try the other recipes floating around the internet like I did, but I will warn you they are just not going to be like this!

I know right away many of you will ask me what you can use instead of the vegan egg by Follow Your Heart and unfortunately this was the winning combination to make it work out correctly. This is the way the recipe works perfectly, so if you can't get it or don't want to buy it I would sadly say to go ahead and try the other recipes floating around the internet like I did, but I will warn you they are just not going to be like this!

Serves: 18 miniatures

Ingredients

For the Pate a Choux

Soy or Almond Milk 1 cup (237ml)

Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)

Sugar 5 teaspoons

Salt pinch

Vegan Egg by Follow Your Heart 3 Tablespoons (12g)

Cold Water ½ cup (118ml)

Aquafaba ½ cup (118ml)

All Purpose Flour 1 cup (125g)

Baking Powder 4 teaspoons

Xanthan Gum ¼ teaspoon

Apple Cider Vinegar 1 teaspoon (5ml)

For the Pastry Cream

Soy or Almond Milk 1¼ cup (295ml)

Vegan Egg by Follow Your Heart 2 Tablespoons (8g)

Cold Water ⅓ cup

Cornstarch 2 Tablespoons (20g)

Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)

Granulated Sugar ⅓ cup (67g)

Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon

Instructions

First prepare the pastry cream custard so it has time to set while the eclairs are baking.

Combine the milk alternative and sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a boil

Meanwhile in a medium mixing bowl combine the vegan egg and cold water and whisk vigorously smooth then add the cornstarch whisk smooth

Once the milk comes to a boil slowly stream it into the vegan egg mixture in the bowl while whisking constantly

Then pour the entire mixture back into the pot and continue cooking over a medium heat while whisking constantly until it starts to bubble.

Let it boil for about 15 seconds then remove it from the heat and add the vegan butter and vanilla extract

Transfer to a clean bowl or container and cover the top directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cold.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and next prepare the pate a choux dough by combining the milk alternative with the vegan butter, sugar and pinch of salt in a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil

Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine the vegan egg with the cold water and whisk smooth

Add the apple cider vinegar and then the baking powder and the mixture will bubble up so be sure you are using a large enough bowl!

Add the aquafaba liquid and whisk smooth, set that aside

Once the milk comes to a boil add the flour and xanthan gum and stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until all the flour is absorbed and it forms a dough that pulls into the center of the pot.

Transfer it to a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (or a food processor will also work!) and stream the vegan egg mixture into the dough while mixing on low speed until it is all incorporated then increase the speed to high until you have as sticky dough that is coming together

*If using a food processor just combine everything together and process to a sticky dough

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag (I just use a couple no tip inserted) and pipe 3" long logs into a silicone mat

Brush with water lightly then bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 20 minutes

At 20 minutes turn the oven down to 400°F and bake for another 10 minutes.

Turn the oven off and crack the door open and let them cool inside the oven for about 5 - 10 minutes longer.

You can check to see if they are done at the 30 minute mark (before shutting off the oven) to see if they are hollow inside, if not bake for another 10 minutes or so

Cool before filling with cold pastry cream.

You will have to stir the pastry cream slightly to get it to a pipable consistency and I folded in an equal amount of coconut whipped cream for a lighter custard filling, this is optional

Notes

Eclairs must be kept refrigerated and can be stored for up to 1 week.

Unfilled shells can be stored in the freezer in a ziploc bag for up to 2 months and the custard can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi Diane, I noted this in the blog post:
I know right away many of you will ask me what you can use instead of the vegan egg by Follow Your Heart and unfortunately this was the winning combination to make this recipe work out correctly.

This is the way the recipe works perfectly, so if you can’t get it or don’t want to buy it I would sadly say to go ahead and try the other recipes floating around the internet like I did, but I will warn you they are just not going to be like this!

Cannot wait to try to make them! Wow. I miss eclairs so much. I wonder what chocolate coating you are using and if that white part is just melted white chocolate? And the last question is if you would by any chance have a caramel glaze recipe for the eclairs. I am dreaming about a pastry from my childhood that consisted of choux pastry filled with a whipped cream and vanilla custard and there was a layer of a caramel glaze on the top. Thank you!!!!!!

Hi can I check did you use baking Powder as opposed to baking soda? My mixture did froth up as expected… Also in the video says that you add the Aquafaba after the vinegar/baking Powder but in the written recipe I think it’s the other way round (Aquafaba first then baking Powder and vinegar). Does it matter which way you do it? Thank you!

Hi Marcia! Thanks, just one note first that you read about the vegan egg by Follow Your Heart being different since I developed this recipe, the new Soy formula is causing this recipe to fail…
So that being said- THANK YOU for catching that! I updated the post to reflect the video instruction!

“When the news hit that our algal ingredient supply would be going away, we went back to the kitchen and found a way to deliver more protein while keeping the same great taste and texture that we’ve all come to love. We found an organic soymilk that functions the same in every way” i hope it can still work.

Hello! Could someone confirm that the new Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg (with soy milk) does not work with this recipe? Has anyone tried it since the company changed the ingredients? I just tried one of the many vegan pâte à choux recipes on the internet and what it yielded was decidedly not choux pastry. I would like to try this recipe, but am fearful that the altered Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg is going to yield another frustrating disappointment.

HI There, it has not been working out! I also have tried several recipes (as I explained in blog post and in the video) and none were to my liking either. Once I developed this recipe with the Original formula FYH I was so pleased, only to be knocked down shortly after with their new changed formula!! Ugggghhh

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